LPL Looks to Solve New Advisor Training and Succession Planning in One Fell Swoop

LPL Financial has launched a new training program aimed at easing the transition of advisors new to the industry while helping to ensure succession planning for the firm’s current advisors, according to a press release from LPL.

LPL’s new Independent Advisor Institute will pair rookie advisors with current LPL advisors to help with onboarding and developing new recruits through a structured training program, the company says.

LPL will help managing advisors select qualified associate advisors and subsidize the associate advisors’ compensation during the first year, as well as assisting them with obtaining required licensing, according to the press release. The program will also offer new advisors training on LPL’s technology and develop their sales and advice skills, the company says.

“The best way to create value in your own business is to have someone to come in behind you that’s going to take over,” Tim Kelly, an advisor who participated in a pilot of IAI earlier this year, says in the press release.

At the same time, the program aims to reduce the burden on LPL’s existing advisors, the company says.

“The [IAI] is designed to help overcome the hurdle of hiring and training a new advisor, enabling LPL advisors to remain focused on their clients as they gain a resource for growth,” said Jeffrey Czajka, LPL’s vice president of corporate strategy overseeing IAI, says in the press release. “In addition, it helps to secure the future of advice in the independent space.”

LPL is trying to address the expected shortage of advisors in coming years. While demand for advisors is expected to grow 30% between 2014 and 2024, half of the currently working financial advisors plan to retire by 2032, according to a Cerulli report cited by LPL in its press release. Meanwhile, TD Ameritrade found last year that only one-third of advice firms feel confident about their ability to adequately address their hiring needs, LPL says.